Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday that he was hopeful that the two sides could reach a deal on Monday, when the Senate is set to convene in the afternoon. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D., Md.) has advised members that the House could vote on an agreement as early as Wednesday.
The emerging agreement would send about $310 billion more to the Paycheck Protection Program, which last week exhausted the $350 billion Congress originally allocated for it. The deal is also set to include $75 billion in assistance for hospitals and $25 billion to expand testing for the virus across the country.
Democrats had blocked a Republican attempt to approve more funding for the small-business program alone, pushing for this round of legislation to include funding for other areas, including hospitals, testing efforts, state and local governments and food assistance. Republicans had sought to quickly refresh PPP and leave other issues for future legislation.
Congress created PPP last month as part of a $2.2 trillion rescue bill in an attempt to prevent mass layoffs as economic activity world-wide slowed amid business closures and other social-distancing efforts to prevent the further spread of the disease. Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, has killed more than 40,000 people in the U.S. Businesses that use the loans to keep their employees on payroll can have the debt forgiven.
While the final deal, which could total more than $450 billion, will be broader than the stand-alone small business aid Republicans wanted, several Democratic demands are also absent from the legislation. No funding for state and local governments, whose revenues have been slashed during the pandemic, is likely to be included in this package, nor will more money for food assistance.
Of the $310 billion for PPP, $60 billion is expected to be set aside for firms that have struggled to receive loans from banks, including businesses without relationships with traditional lenders, according to a Democratic aide. The deal is also likely to provide $60 billion in new funding to a separate small business program, Economic Injury Disaster Loans, which had also run short of funds amid large demand.
In a call on Sunday afternoon with President Trump and Senate Republicans, Mr. Mnuchin said that negotiations were focused on finalizing the funding for testing for the virus, according to a GOP aide.
Once an agreement is reached, lawmakers say they will move to approve it as soon as possible. Because lawmakers have left Washington during the pandemic, the Senate will move to approve the bill by unanimous consent, which a single lawmaker can block if they object. House Democrats are anticipating that Republicans will object to passing the legislation unanimously, instead preparing to bring members back to Capitol Hill to vote on the agreement.
Both Republicans and Democrats expect to craft yet another round of relief legislation after they complete this one, as they have strained to keep up with the ballooning economic and public health crises. Congress passed and Mr. Trump signed three major relief bills in March.